It has been standard practice to prepare a panel board with a multiplicity of dual-in-line arrays of holes in which lead sockets are inserted. These sockets have been inserted individually by hand, and by means of a recent innovation where the socket contacts are assembled onto a carrier which is a simple device having a dual-in-line configuration of projections from a thin, flat body onto which the socket contacts have been mounted. This loaded carrier is then placed in position and the contacts are inserted into the dual-in-line arrays of holes in the panel board. The carrier is then removed and disposed of, either by being thrown away or recycled. The next step in panel board assembly is to mount a dual-in-line electronic circuit package (DIP), such as an integrated circuit package, to the panel board with its leads being inserted into the socket contacts mounted in the panel board. The DIP is often pre-loaded onto an adaptor or insulator socket, or the insulator socket is mounted to the board before the DIP is mounted thereto. In some cases, use of the insulator socket increases the overall thickness of the electronic panel board and, by being slightly wider than the dual-in-line arrays of holes and socket contacts, both in panel board area used and in proximity of panel boards, density is somewhat less than optimum. Examples of insulator sockets are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,825,876, 3,605,062, 3,644,792, 3,441,853 and 3,673,543.
It may be noted that several steps are involved in combining DIP's with panel boards: socket contacts are mounted to a carrier; the carrier and contacts are then mounted to the panel board; the carrier is removed and disposed of; and a DIP is mounted to the socket contacts in the panel board. As one alternative: the socket contacts are individually assembled to the board in a time consuming process; and the DIP is mounted thereto.